Family pension no bar on claiming relief: HC

 Family pension no bar on claiming relief: HC 

Vasantha.Kumar@timesofindia.com 09.02.2025

Bengaluru : Dharwad bench of Karnataka high court has ruled that a wife who receives family pension cannot be disentitled from making a claim for loss of dependency in an accident case. Justice Hanchate Sanjeevkumar made the observation recently while rejecting an appeal filed by the Oriental Insurance Company.

The insurance firm had challenged a 2018 order passed by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Gadag district in favour of one Sharada and her four sons. Her husband, Basavanneppa Gorawar, was a retired lecturer who died in an accident in 2012. After his death, Sharada was receiving ₹24,871 as family pension. Sharada and her sons claimed compensation stating that the deceased earned ₹60,000 per month as he was a book writer apart from being an agriculturist. 

The tribunal awarded ₹13.9 lakh under the head of “loss of dependency” out of ₹14.8 lakh compensation. It awarded 60% of the amount to the wife and a 10% share to each of the four sons. The insurance company challenged this arguing that the four sons were grown up, and since the wife was receiving ₹24,871 as family pension, she could not claim compensation under the head of ‘loss of dependency’.

Justice Sanjeevkumar pointed out, “Family pension is the result of service rendered by the employee to the employer. The employee spends his whole life towards the employer. Therefore, after superannuation, the employee will get pension as a matter of right.” The judge observed, “Just because the wife is receiving family pension due to the death of the husband, it does not amount to disentitling her to make a claim under the head of loss of dependency. Grant of family pension is not charity. It is a basic necessity of life enabling a person after retirement to lead a decent life.”